Grain-header.



PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904. J. A. SHARP. GRAIN HEADER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.12, 1902.

7 BHEETSSHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904. J. A. SHARP.

GRAIN HEADER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.12, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Yaziem w wad/5M .0 6 [51 1M m g 1.44144: I

PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

J. A. SHARP.

GRAIN HEADER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1902.

7 SHEETS-8H 213T 3.

N0 MODEL.

No. 766,470. PATBNTED AUG. 2, 1904. J. A. SHARP.

GRAIN HEADER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 7 8HEETBBHEBT 4.

PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

J. A. SHARP.

GRAIN HEADER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12. 1902.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

J. A. SHARP.

GRAIN HEADER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 12, 1902.

'] SHEETS-SHEET 6.

N0 MODEL.

No. 766,470. PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904. J. A. SHARP.

GRAIN HEADER.

APPLICATION 21mm MB. 12. 1902.

no MODEL. k I 7 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

NITED STATES ATENT Patented August 2, 1904.

JAMES A. SHARP, OF CHICAGO. ILLINOIS, ASSICNOR TO THE MCCORMICK HARVFQTINC MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GRAIN-HEADER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 766,470, dated August 2, 1904:.

Application filed March 12, 1902. Serial No. 97,930. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES A. Suanr, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in (irrain-Headers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to a well-known type of harvesting-machines known as headers,

where the machine is carried in advance of a truck consisting of a transverse axle supported on wheels and a long tongue to which the team is hitched in rear of the wheels. the whole machine being pushed ahead instead of drawn along. Owing to the greatly-increased width of cut in such a machine, the manner in which the platform and elevator-frame is necessarily supported, the length of the thrust-tongue, and the distance that the driver is necessarily located from the operative parts of the machine the whole structure is much more subject to torsional and twisting strains than ordinary machines, where the structures are more compact, and this, taken in connection with the evident advantage and economy of reducing the weight, and consequently the horse-power to drive the machine, calls for a high degree of inventive skill and intelligence in harvester-building.

The .present construction is the result of a careful study of the requirements of this type of machine under all conditions of actual practice and has for its general object to lighten the weight and increase the rigidity of the structure and to enhance the general efliciency of the whole machine.

Particular objects of the construction will be explained in connection with the detailed description.

The construction is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view of the entire machine. Fig. 2 is a stubble-side view of all except the tongue. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. sis a stubbleside view of the tongue, showing the drivers stand and seat and the operating-levers. Fig. 5 1s a grain-side view of the same parts. Fig.

6 'is a cross-sectional view on the line 6 6, Fig.

5, looking rearward. Fig. 7 is a detail side view of the reel supporting and operating parts. Fig. 8 isa section on the line 8 8, Fig; 1, and Fig. 9 is a detail in plan of the reel-operating parts.

The machine-frame or that part which carries the platform and the elevator, in contradistinction to the truck-frame, comprises lon- 6 gitudinal angle-iron sills 1/, extending from one end of the machine to the other along the front and. rear lower corners. At the stubble end of the machine the elevator and its struts c or any other strut that may be required are erected on these sills, and at various points along the length of the rear sill posts (Z are erected, by means of which the wind-board and the rock-shafts ff, which carry the reel, are supported.

The truck of the machine consists of a tubular sleeve {7, inclosing a through-axle which is supported at opposite ends by the usual wheels and having a tubular tongue /1 extending rearward and supported at its hind end by a caster-wheel 1 The tongue is attached to the axle-sleeve near the main drive-wheel Z" and is connected to it at a point near the grain-wheel by a diagonal brace l. The sleeve g is connected to the tongue and brace by 0 means of clips m. 1/, which are securely bolted to the tongue and brace, respectively, and inclose the sleeve tightly and are bolted thereto.

At the stubble end of the machine there is a gearing-frame 0, consisting of a bar bent in 5 the form of the letter U and having one of its arms suspended from the stubble end of the axle outside the main wheel, as shown in Fig. 2, and the other end bolted at p to the under side of the axle-sleeve on the grain side 9 of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 3. The frame o is rigidly connected at its rear end to the tongue and has journaled in its side bars the counter-shaft 1 which is driven from the main wheel in the usual way.

Pivoted to the grain-side bar of the gearframe in rear of the axle and preferably about one foot therefrom is a forwardly-projecting bar 1', that extends all the way under the axle across the platform of the machine. This bar supports the entire weight of the stubble end of the machine-frame and its superposed parts, and the'grain end of the frame is supported by a similar bar 8, that is pivoted to the under side of the diagonal brace Z in line with the pivot of the bar 1", so that these two bars form a hinged cradle-like support for the machine-frame that is pivoted at a point in rear of the axle instead of being pivoted on the axle, as heretofore. The bars 1" s are rigidly secured to both the base-sills a, as shown in Fig. 8, and to firmly brace and unite the machine-frame to its pivoted supportingframe (the bars rs) diagonal braces tit extend from the rear sill a backward to the bars 0" and s, respectively, near their pivoted connection with the tongue and brace Z, and the whole structure is further braced by a bar '0, extending from a point on the outer side bar of the gearing-frame 0 to the upper end of the elevator-frame and an adjustable tie-rod w, extending from an arm at the outer side of the grain-wheel (the point of connection of the rod to the arm being also-in line with the pivots of the bars 7 and s) to the upper end of the outermost post (Z.

The bars r and s. and of course the entire machine-frame which is supported thereby are as to their elevation from the ground under the control of the driver through the intermediacy of vertical posts a b, that are pivoted at their lower ends on the axle-sleeve and are connected to the bars near where they are fastened to the rear sill a by adjustable pivoted rods 0 d. From the upper end of the posts rods 6 e extend rearward and connect with the upper end of a lever 9, that is pivoted to a saddle it, that is securely bolted to the tongue at about the point where the brace Z joins it. The lever g has an arm extending below its pivot where it is connected under the tongue to the rear end of a strong extension coil-spring 2', whose front end is connected at any convenient fixed point, so that the tension of the spring will counterbalance the weight of the frame and assist the driver in liftingit. Extending rearward from the counterbalance-lever 9 there is a rod k, which leads to the upper arm of a bell-crank Z, that is freely pivoted to the casting which carries the drivers stand 772' at the rear end of the tongue. The lower end of the bell-crank has a stout extension coil-spring n connected to it, the other end of the spring being connected to a fixed point on the tongue, so that this spring by constantlypulling the lever back forms an additional counterbalance arrangement for the frame carrying the platform, elevator, &c., of the machine.

By reference to Fig. 5 it will be seen that the lever Z is free to swing forward and backward. It has no direct connection with the notched segment 0; but there is pivoted alongside of it and on the same axis with it a hand 'to its segment, and therefore forms a stop to limit the forward movement of the upper end of the lever Z; but the latter is free to move independently of the hand-lever behind it, and as the weight of the platform of the machine, the elevator, &c., are carried by the springs c" and n the lever Z and the lever g are floating levers in the normal operation of the machine.

The lever Z is provided with a rearwardlyextending foot-lever p, by means of which the driver may raise the platform without operating the hand-lever; but whenever it is desired to lower the platform the hand-lever must be unlocked from the segment, and when so released the lever Z may be freely operated in either direction by the foot or by means of a spring-catch g on the hand-lever hooking over a projection on the lever Z, whereby the two levers are locked together and operate as one. When the springs Z and a are adjusted to the proper tension, it will usually be easy to control the rising and falling of the platform by the foot-lever 19, especially on the rough ground; but where unusual movements are required the hand-lever will be found more convenientand effective, and this lever always forms an adjustable stop to limit the downward movement of the hinged arms 7 and s and the entire frame of the machine.

Referring now to Fig. 8, 7", s, and 2," denote sprocket wheels around which an endless chain is thrown to drive the platform-carrier, the cutters, the lower elevator-aprons, and the binder, when one is employed. sprockets 1" is the driver, and it is driven by means of a tumbling-shaft a, that leads rearward and is connected to a short shaft journaled in a boxing c, carried at the rear outer corner of the gearing-frame, the tumblingshaft having universal-joint connections with the parts at both ends. The short shaft has a pinion w on its rear end, that is drivenby the bevel-gear w on the outer end of the countershaft (1. The upper apron of the elevator is also driven by a tumbling-shaft. It is denoted by (Z2 in Fig. 2 and connects at its front end directly to the shaft of the roller 0 and is connected, like the tumbler, a, to a short shaft journaled in the same boxing w. This shaft has a spur-pinion 5 that meshes with 'the bevel-pinion u in one part with pinion w,

so that the tumbler a is driven by pinion a and both are driven by the gear w on the counter-shaft. The support and operation of the reel is a different matter in this class of machines. In the present invention the vertical posts (Z, that rise from the rear sill a of the platform-frame, carry in bearings at their up- Of these I Lil per ends the pair of parallel tubular rocking shafts f and f, heretofore referred to, the inner ends of these shafts being supported in suitable bearings in a casting a, that is securely fastened to the apex of the elevator frame and struts 0 0. These rocking shafts form the means for operating the reel, one of them serving to lower and raise it and the other acting to throw it forward or backward without materially changing its elevation.

The reel-shaft is supported on boxes 0*, that slide in and out on bars 0" at each end of the platform, which bars are sleeved on the rocking shaftf and are braced by tie-rods c, that extend from a point near their outer ends to the upper ends of bracket 0 The sliding boxes 0 of the reel-shaft are connected by rods (1 with the upper ends of arms (1, that are fixed to and project upwardly from the upper rocking shaft f at its opposite ends, and to a down\vardly-projecting arm Z is connected a rod 17, running rearwardly to the drivers stand and connected to a hand-lever 0 the rod on its way passing through a guide (Z fixed on the tongue to prevent it from sagging and being preferably adjustably connected to the lever by means of a perforated socket 0 into any of the holes of which the hooked rear end of the lever may be set. The rocking of the pipe 7' by these means causes the boxes 0 to slide in or out on the bars a without altering the elevation of the bars, and the position of the reel is thus adjusted fore and aft, as desired, with respect to the line of the cutters. The lower rocking pipe or rod f is also journaled in bearings in the outermost post (Z and the casting and at opposite ends it has fixed on it gear-segments (1, that intermcsh with similar segments (F, that are loose on the upper rod f. The reel-supporting arms o before described, are bolted to the castings on which these loose segments (f are formed, so that on rocking the lower rod f by means of the depending arm (1, which is fixed thereto, the castings carrying the upper segments and the reel supporting arms will be rotated around the rod f and the vertical height of the reel will be altered. A rod fl leads from the lever (i backward to a hand-lever (.Z on the drivers stand, by means of which the height of the reel is controlled, this rod also passing through the guide (6" on its Way. The weight of the reel is counterbalanced by means of a spring g, that is connected at its front end to a fixed point under the tongue, and has its rear end connected to a depending extension of the lever (1*, that raises and lowers the reel and puts the whole reel structure under the quick and easy control of the driver.

The reel is driven from a sprocket-wheel e on the axle outside the main wheel, an endless chain e" on this sprocket passing around a similar wheel on the end of the reel-shaft and passing on its way over and around the sheaves a of a spring-held compensating tightener Referring again to Figs. at and 5, the drivers stand 'm is formed on a casting that is securely bolted to the rear end of the tongue. In a bearing a in this casting the vertical stem of the yoke e, which carries the casterwheel, is journalcd, and on an arm e", projecting from the upper part of the stem, the riders seat is supported. On the forward part of the stand-casting the ratchet-segments for the several levers already described are fixed, and the lovers themselves are also pivoted thereon. A foot-lever f is also pivoted on the stand m behind the stem f, and a rod runs forward from said lever to a clutchf on the gearing-frame u, by means of which the counter-shaft may be unclutched from the pinion 0 by means of which it is driven. Thus the movement of all the operative parts of the machine except the reel may be instantly stopped by a slight movement of the drivers foot.

The construction being as thus described, it is to be noted in respect of the manner of supporting the platform-frame that by reason of the fact that it is hung on pivots in rear of the axle a much less angle of inclination is given to the platform when it is raised or lowered. The platform, moreover, is much more easily handled than ispossible when it is hung from the axle. It is also to be noted that the weight of the platform is supported by the springs i and w, and therefore it floats in the normal operation of the machine, the lover I on the drivers stand vibrating to and fro independently of the main hand-lever; but when the latter lever is pulled back it contacts with the lever l, and the two then work as one.

The arrangement for supporting and adjusting the reel is not herein claimed, but is claimed in application, Serial No. 145,702, filed by me on the 2d day of March, 1903, as a division of the present application.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a header, the combination with a truck comprising an axle and a sleeve inclosing the same, of a tongue rigidly connected to the sleeve, platform-supporting bars pivoted to the truck in rear of the axle-sleeve, vertical posts pivoted on the sleeve, suspension-rods connecting the supporting-bars to the posts, a lever g pivoted on the tongue in rear of the truck, and connecting-rods leading from said lever to the posts.

2. In a header, the combination with a truck comprising an axle and a sleeve inclosing the same, of a tongue rigidly connected to the sleeve, platform-supporting bars pivoted to the truck in rear of the axle-sleeve, vertical posts pivoted on the sleeve, suspension-rods connecting the supporting-bars to the posts, a lever g pivoted on the tongue in rear of the truck, a drivers stand at the rear end of the tongue, a floating lever Z pivoted on the stand, a rod connection between this lever and the lever g, and means for adjusting the forward limit of movement of the lever.

3. In a head er, the combination with a truck comprising an axle and a sleeve inclosing the same, of a tongue rigidly connected to the sleeve, platform-supporting bars pivoted to the truck in rear of the axle-sleeve, vertical posts pivoted on the sleeve, suspension-rods connecting the supporting-bars to the posts, a lever g pivoted on the tongue in rear of the truck, connecting-rods leading from said lever to the posts, a counterbalance-spring 2" connected to the lever g, a drivers stand at the rear end of the tongue, a floating lever Z pivoted on the stand, a rod connection between the levers Z and g, a counterbalance-spring n for the lever Z, and means for adjusting the forward limit of movement of the lever. 4:. In a header, the combination with a truck comprising an axle and a sleeve inclosing the same, of a tongue secured to the sleeve near the main wheel, a gear-frame secured to the sleeve and tongue, a diagonal brace securing the tongue to the sleeve near the grain-wheel, a platform-frame, platform-supporting bars, s r, pivoted respectively to the brace and the gear-frame in rear of the axle-sleeve and projecting forward under the axle, and secured to the rear sill of the platform, and diagonal braces 25, u, secured to the platform-sill and to the rear ends of bars 7', s. v

5. In a header, the combination with atruck comprising an axle and a sleeve inclosing the same, of a tongue secured to the sleeve near the main wheel, a gear-frame secured to the sleeve and tongue, a diagonal brace securing the tongue to the sleeve near the grain-wheel, a platform-frame comprising a rear sill a, vertical posts d and an elevator Z), platform-supporting bars 8, r, pivoted respectively to the diagonal brace and the gear-frame in rear of the axle-sleeve and projecting forward under the axle and secured to the sill a, diagonal braces 25, a, secured to the sill and to the rear ends of the bars 1*, s, an arm 09 extending rearward from the axle outside the grain-wheel, a tie-rod w connecting this arm with theupper end of the outermost post (Z, and a bar 4) connecting the upper end of the elevator to the outer side bar of the gearing-frame in rear of the axle.

6. In a header, the combination of a truck, a tongue secured thereto, a platform pivoted to the truck, a drivers stand at the rear end of the tongue, a hand-lever pivoted on the stand, a toothed segment for locking it in different positions of adjustment, a lever Z pivoted on the stand alongside of the hand-lever, a rod connection between the lever Z and the platform, a loose engagement between the two levers permitting the lever Z to move rearward independently of the hand-lever but pre- 

